It feels weird to write it after decades of their disdain, but yes, Hollywood has finally understood how to adapt our video games. It took time, even decades, but the producers, screenwriters, and even directors have finally realized that throwing snot in the faces of gamers was no longer very profitable past the 2020s. You got it, not only did we love the Fallout series, but it is objectively the best adaptation of a video game into a TV series, even above that of The Last of Us. Why? That’s obviously what we’re going to see together in the following paragraphs, as I spent my entire Monday binge-watching the 8 episodes of this show led by Jonathan Nolan, who is none other than Christopher Nolan’s younger brother. And if the Amazon Prime Video series is such a success, it’s also because Jonathan Nolan is a video game consumer and someone who deeply loves the Fallout series. Yes, the perfect combo.
We can say it without fear of being strongly criticized by Twitter haters: we are currently on a beautiful trend in terms of video game adaptations into films or TV series. Arcane, Cyberpunk Edgerunner, The Last of Us, Gran Turismo, Super Mario Bros (despite the abysmal emptiness of its story and narration), the latest Mortal Kombat to a certain extent (yes I know, it goes off the rails halfway through the film, but it understood something at least), Fallout (and by far), we are now on more qualitative productions than in the 90s and 2000s, even though I know there are still some beauties like the latest Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, or more recently the Halo series that has been criticized by players on Rotten Tomatoes. But what has really changed in Hollywood in recent years? According to Jonathan Nolan, who is both the showrunner of the series and also the producer, co-screenwriter, and director of the first three episodes (the best ones by the way), it is that we now have a whole new generation of directors who grew up really playing video games. These words were collected by the magazine Première, which reminds us that Christopher Nolan’s younger brother is 47 years old, a generation that has therefore experienced the emancipation of video games, who fully assumes himself as a gamer in the interviews he gives and unlike previous directors and screenwriters, he does not look down on video games.
VIDEO GAMES FINALLY CONSIDERED?
Because yes, for decades, Hollywood looked at video games as a minor art form, even a subculture, while filmmakers like him look at it with admiration. Jonathan Nolan discovered the Fallout game with the 3rd episode in 2008 and spent nearly 40 hours on it. That gave him the desire to go further and be interested in the entire franchise and to propose to Todd Howard, the producer of both, a collaboration together. Involving the creator of the original material, what a good idea, something that Craig Mazin did with The Last of Us series, by hiring Neil Druckmann to write, produce, and even direct Episode 2. That’s the miracle recipe, the one that will truly allow to understand the original material, without denigrating it, and even go beyond it. Because before making money off it, the intention of these new creators is artistic above all, with the respect that must be given to this incredible industry that is the video game industry.
Still in the interview given to Première, Jonathan Nolan also believes that video game creators have succeeded where cinema has failed, that is to say to dare to write bold stories, which go beyond the beaten path, borrowing a punk-rock path that cinema did not dare to take. It’s true that the Fallout story is full of inspiration, with an incredibly cinematic artistic style, which also reminds of BioShock. Atompunk atmosphere for Fallout and steampunk for the one from Ken Levine’s game, admit that these cultural movements adapt perfectly to stories that are out of the ordinary. Moreover, I remind you that BioShock is also planned as a film through an adaptation produced by Netflix. Am I reassured? I don’t know. Netflix is capable of both good and bad, rarely the best, especially since adapting the BioShock universe into a 2 to 2.5-hour film is a perilous exercise. I think they should have opted for the TV series format. But we’ll see when the time comes.
In short, all of this to come back to our original point, namely to proclaim loudly and clearly that Fallout is to this day the best adaptation of a video game, without any possible objection. Some will tell me The Last of Us, but what works better with Fallout than any other? Simply because with Fallout, Jonathan Nolan used the foundation of the video games to make a distinctive work, whereas The Last of Us is almost a shot-by-shot adaptation of the video game. There are several reasons for this and that’s not a reason to discredit one more than the other. Let’s say that The Last of Us game is so cinematic in its direction, narration, and writing that it was enough to almost stupidly transpose the game into a TV series for the sauce to take, and thus reach a new audience. And it worked, especially since some episodes allow for expanding the lore.
For Fallout, it’s a bit more complicated, in the sense that the series already includes many games, and there is not really an assimilated hero. The character you play in the Fallout games is a creation of the players, avatars created from head to toe. Choice of gender, face shape, hairstyle, skills, each Fallout hero corresponds to the identity of the creating player. Obviously, it doesn’t work like that in a movie or a TV series, where the viewer must identify with a specific protagonist, with a background, an identified personality. This is where Jonathan Nolan’s creative genius comes in: by focusing his story on not 1 but three major and entirely invented characters, based obviously on the video game lore. So we have Lucy MacLean, played by the mesmerizing Ella Purnell, a sunny, almost naive young woman, and for good reason, she was born and raised in one of the many Vaults, these atomic shelters that protected the rich from the nuclear war for nearly 200 years. It is her naivety and boundless positivity that make her extremely likable, but also very vulnerable to the outside world, this famous Wasteland where ultra-violence has become the daily life of the survivors of the nuclear bombs.
We also have Aaron Moten who plays the role of Maximus, a member of the Steel Brotherhood, who will go from a simple squire to a Knight capable of piloting these powerful armors, to crisscross the Westland without fearing any danger. He will become a formidable ally to Lucy and his rather cold personality at first, but determined, will make him an interesting character to follow as well. Personally, I didn’t know this 35-year-old actor, and very honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by his performances. I really felt like I was seeing a young version of Denzel Washington, both in his physical features and his acting performances.
And finally, there is, of course, the Ghoul, an iconic creature from the Fallout games, which looks like a kind of zombie in its physical representation, while it is rather a human who has been exposed to radiation for too long, hence its appearances of being putrefied, missing parts of its body, and possessing superhuman strength. Jonathan Nolan’s genius is to have made the series’ most interesting character out of a creature to kill in the game, by writing him a past, a present, and even a future. The cherry on the cake, the role was entrusted to the excellent Walton Goggins who finally has a role worthy of his talent. He who has always played supporting roles or crazies in Hollywood, I am very happy that Nolan thought of him for the role of Cooper Howard / The Ghoul.
And these three characters, who are so different from each other, will cross paths several times in the 8/9 hours of the Season 1 of Fallout, with the bonus of this cut and alternated narration in three different prisms. We will move from one to the other with perfectly controlled pacing, while continuing to provide material for the central and common story, with other important characters that will be added. I’m thinking in particular of the investigation part of Norman McLean, Lucy’s younger brother, whose revelations are probably the most important in the series. And in addition to this narrative that manages to hold the attention over the 8 1-hour episodes, there is also this desire to change the settings and eras. We move from atomic shelters with their atompunk ambiance to the ravaged and desolate environments of the Wasteland, sometimes leaning towards the western, a genre that Jonathan Nolan has studied well since he also comes from the Westland series, of which he is also the co-creator. I hope they will be able to finish it, even if HBO canceled the last season.
OKI DOKI
You got it, if Fallout is also of high quality, it is above all thanks to its story, its narration, and its atmosphere, but also thanks to the quality of its direction and its sets, often filmed outdoors in natural settings. Of course, the series includes a lot of special effects and digital effects, but Jonathan Nolan wanted a grounded, realistic rendition, and between the Namib desert and the mountains of Utah, the series does not hesitate to highlight its landscapes, often stunning, especially since the wide shots allow for a better consideration of the extent of this post-apocalyptic world. The budget is there, 153 million dollars for the entire series, and it shows on the screen. The aesthetic is there, often grandiose, especially since Nolan did not skimp on ultra-violence. We follow a group of people in a ravaged, lawless, resourceless world, so naturally, everyone kills each other for nothing. Blood therefore spurts abundantly, limbs explode, heads are decapitated, with a deliberately rubbery and absurd side, to stick to this surreal and sometimes burlesque atompunk atmosphere. All of this is obviously assumed and add to that a completely retro-delicious soundtrack, with tracks from 1960s America, and you’ll get a good idea of what to expect. Of course, the main theme is in the series, especially since the sound design also takes up sounds from the video games. A real treat for the ears. In fact, fans of the series will love spotting all the intelligently and sporadically placed easter eggs from the video games, especially since we even get the origin story of certain game elements, such as the creation of the Vault-boy, extremely well done.
Fallout is the perfect example of what can be done when you find the right people to adapt video games that deserve to go beyond their medium. Hollywood has finally understood what players were waiting for, which moments of a game should be adapted, to what extent one could deviate from it or not and when the exercise is successful, it generates interest for the games, since since the TV series came out, Fallout game sales have been relaunched even more. And if video games have become Hollywood’s new goose that lays the golden eggs, which can no longer rely on superhero films to explode its box office? I am convinced.
OUR RATING: 9/10
